Getting Started
ZaciSEO is a free WordPress plugin that gives you a complete SEO toolkit right inside your admin dashboard. No external accounts required for core features.
Requirements
- WordPress 5.8 or newer (tested up to 6.6)
- PHP 8.0 or newer
- Administrator access to install plugins
Installation
- Download the plugin zip file (
ZaciSEO1.4.0.zip). - In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
- Select the zip file and click Install Now.
- Click Activate.
Initial Settings
After activation, navigate to ZaciSEO → Settings in the admin sidebar. Configure:
- Brand suffix — appended to generated titles (e.g. your site name).
- Title / Meta limits — character caps for title tags (default 60) and meta descriptions (default 155).
- Tone — default writing tone for AI-generated content (Balanced, Professional, Casual, Bold).
- Post types — which content types to scan (posts, pages, or both).
- SEO sync — enable writing to Yoast and/or Rank Math meta fields.
Tip: Run ZaciSEO on a staging site first so you can test AI generation without affecting live content.
Dashboard Overview
The main ZaciSEO dashboard is your command center. It is an admin-only page — nothing is added to your site’s front-end, so there is zero performance impact on visitors.
The dashboard contains several tabs:
- SEO Insights — scan results table with health filters and bulk actions.
- Social Captions — generate platform-specific social media posts.
- Email Export — create and export email content from your posts.
- Logs — activity, error, and security event logs.
From the scan results table you can click any row to expand it with a SERP preview, keyword analysis, and on-page checklist.
SEO Scanner
The scanner audits every post and page across 70+ checks and assigns a health score. Results populate a filterable table with color-coded issue chips.
Running a Scan
- Open the SEO Insights tab on the dashboard.
- Click Scan All (or select specific posts and scan them individually).
- Results appear in the table with score, title, meta description, and issue chips.
Health Filters
Use the filter chips above the table to narrow results. There are 13 health filters:
| Filter | What it catches |
|---|---|
| Missing Title | No SEO title set |
| Missing Meta | No meta description |
| Title Too Long | Title exceeds character limit |
| Title Too Short | Title under 20 characters |
| Meta Too Long | Meta description exceeds limit |
| Meta Too Short | Meta under 70 characters |
| Duplicate Title | Same title used on multiple posts |
| Thin Content | Under 300 words of body content |
| Missing H1 | Page has no H1 heading tag |
| No Internal Links | No links to other pages on your site |
| Images Missing Alt | Images without alt text attributes |
| Hard to Read | Flesch-Kincaid readability score too low |
| Keyword Not in Title | Focus keyword missing from the SEO title |
Bulk Actions
Select multiple rows with checkboxes, then use the sticky toolbar to:
- Bulk Generate — generate titles and/or meta descriptions for all selected posts.
- Bulk Save — apply pending changes to all selected posts in one click.
- Restore Backup — revert to previous meta values if needed.
Title & Description Generator
ZaciSEO provides four generation modes so you can choose the right balance of speed and creativity:
| Mode | Description | Requires API Key? |
|---|---|---|
nonai_h1_brand | Uses the post’s H1 tag plus your brand suffix | No |
nonai_excerpt | Builds meta from the post excerpt or first paragraph | No |
openai_balanced | AI generates both title and meta in a balanced tone | Yes |
openai_title_only | AI generates only the title; meta stays manual | Yes |
Per-field toggles let you lock the title or meta so that generation only updates the unlocked field. The default generator can be set in Settings → Generator Defaults.
AI Configuration
AI features are optional. The core scanner and non-AI generators work without any API key.
Setting Up OpenAI
- Go to ZaciSEO → Settings.
- Enable the OpenAI Integration toggle.
- Paste your OpenAI API key. It is encrypted with AES-256-CBC before storage.
- Select a model from the dropdown.
- Click Test Connection to verify.
Supported Models
| Model | Best for |
|---|---|
gpt-4.1-mini | Fast, cost-effective SEO titles and meta descriptions |
gpt-4.1 | Higher quality generation for important pages |
gpt-5-mini | Latest mini model, great for social captions |
gpt-4o | Balanced performance and cost |
gpt-4o-mini | Lowest cost option for bulk generation |
Security: Your API key is encrypted at rest using WordPress auth salts and AES-256-CBC. It is never exposed in the browser or stored in plain text.
Social Caption Generator
Generate ready-to-post social media captions from any scanned post. The generator respects platform-specific character limits, hashtag rules, and formatting conventions.
Supported Platforms
- Twitter / X — 280 character limit, hashtag and mention support.
- LinkedIn — professional tone, longer format.
- Facebook — general audience, link preview friendly.
- Instagram — caption with hashtag blocks.
Voice Presets
Each platform supports customizable voice presets. Configure in Settings → Social Voices. You can also add custom per-platform instructions to guide the AI’s output.
Keyword Research
The keyword research panel uses Google Autocomplete to suggest related search terms. No API key is required — suggestions come from Google’s public autocomplete endpoint.
How to Use
- Open the SEO Insights tab.
- Expand the Keyword Suggestions panel.
- Enter a seed keyword and click Search.
- Review suggested terms and use them in your content strategy.
Note: Requests are rate-limited and nonce-protected to prevent abuse. Suggestions are based on real Google Autocomplete data.
Keyword Density Analysis
Analyze keyword density for any scanned post to ensure your focus keyword appears at the right frequency.
What It Shows
- Top 10 single keywords with occurrence count and density percentage.
- Top 10 two-word phrases with occurrence count and density percentage.
How to Use
Click the Analyze button on any row in the scan table. The density panel appears below the row showing keyword frequency data extracted from the post’s content.
On-Page SEO Checklist
Every scan runs a comprehensive on-page SEO audit. Issues appear as color-coded chips in the scan table.
Checks Performed
- Word count — flags thin content below 300 words.
- H1 tag presence — ensures at least one H1 exists.
- Focus keyword in title — checks if the keyword appears in the SEO title.
- Focus keyword in meta — checks the meta description.
- Focus keyword in first 100 words — early placement for relevance signals.
- Focus keyword in URL — URL slug contains the keyword.
- Internal link count — flags pages with no internal links.
- External link count — tracks outbound links.
- Image count with alt text audit — flags images missing alt attributes.
- Flesch-Kincaid readability — scores content reading level.
SERP Preview
See exactly how your page will appear in Google search results before you publish.
Features
- Live preview updates as you edit the SEO title and meta description.
- Truncation indicators show when your text exceeds Google’s display limits.
- Realistic Google-style rendering with URL breadcrumb, title link, and description.
Click any row in the scan table to expand the SERP preview card. Edit the title or meta directly and see changes reflected in real time.
Email Export & Merge Tags
Generate email content from your posts using a merge-tag-aware template system. Perfect for newsletters, drip campaigns, and outreach.
Available Merge Tags
| Tag | Replaced with |
|---|---|
%FIRSTNAME% | Recipient’s first name |
%EXCERPT% | Post excerpt or auto-generated summary |
%PERMALINK% | Full URL to the post |
%TITLE% | Post title |
%SIGNOFF% | Your configured sign-off name |
Export Options
- Copy to clipboard — formatted HTML ready to paste into your email platform.
- Preview — see the rendered email in the dashboard before sending.
Configure the email template, sign-off, font family, and font size in Settings → Email.